How did flyball get started?
Herbert Wagner was the first person to show the world the team sport we love, called, "Flyball". It was started in the late 1970's in California. Apparently, Herbert showed it on the Johnny Carson Show. Soon after the show was aired dog clubs and trainers started making Flyball boxes and jumps and couldn't wait to get started! Flyball stretches from the United States to Canada, the United Kingdom to Belgium, and Australia to Italy. There are over 700 clubs and over 9,000 dogs registered with the North American Flyball Association (NAFA). In 2004, the United Flyball League International (U-FLI) was created to accommodate the ever growing dog sport of Flyball.
What Makes the Denver Speed Demons different?
What Equipment do you use?
Most of our equipment is made by club members to NAFA specifications.
What do the points mean?
In NAFA Flyball tournaments, dogs earn tournament points to determine the winner of the tournament. If a team competes in the Regular class in Division 1, any points they get (it's complicated and I still don't understand how it works) go towards Regional Winners!
They also earn NAFA points for every heat they participate in. They earn:
How do competitions work?
Flyball Terms
Anchor Dog: The very last dog in the line-up. Should be competitive, as they "bring home the race". Bad Call:An unnecessary flag or call. Something both line and box judges will occasionally make. Ball Shagger:The person picking up the loose balls from the racing dogs. Box Judge: The judge who sits by the box to make sure the dog racing triggers the box and doesn't 'steal' the ball. Boxloader: The person in charge of loading the flyball box for each racing dog. Breakout: Each division (except Division 1) are assigned a breakout. The breakout is 1 second faster than the fastest team's seed time in the division. For instance lets say Division 2 has 4 teams. Team A has a seed time of 19.3, Team B is 19.4, Team C is 19.4, and Team D is 19.6. The breakout is 18.3, which is one second faster than Team A's seed time. Class: Classes of competition are Regular, Open, Veterans, Multibreed, and Non-Regular. Please see the NAFA rulebook(section 6.2) for more information on the differences between the classes. Crossover: When a dog leaves it's racing lane and enters the other racing lane. The team in the other lane receives an automatic win. Divisons: A grouping of teams with similar seed times. Early Pass: When one dog leaves before the returning dog is through the sensor. EJS:Electronic Judging System. This is comprised of 3 different parts. 1) the laser sensor at the start/finish line 2) the light tree in between theracing lanes 3) the displaybox at the score table False Start: When the start dog goes through the sensor before the green run light is on. Each
team gets one false start per heat, after which the lead dog must re-run. Format: Tells the competing teams how many heats they will run in each race
3/3 = run 3 heats. The team that wins 2 out of 3 wins the race.
4/4 = run 4 heats. The team that wins at least 3 of 4 wins the race. Ties are accepted.
5/5 = run 5 heats. The team that wins the most heats wins the race.
3/5 = runs 3, 4, or 5 heats. The first team to win 3 wins the race. Then the race is finished.
Handler: The person releasing and catching a racing dog. You need at least 4 per team. Heat: When all 4 dogs have completed a full run. Height Dog:Shortest dog on the team. Determines the team’s jump height. Host Club: The club that has organized and is running/managing the event. Jump Height: Measured at 4” less then the shortest dog’s shoulder height or 7”, whichever is greater. Maximum of 14”. Lap Time: Total time it takes for an individual dog to complete the run. The time starts when the dog's nose breaks the sensor going to the box, and stops when the dog's nose breaks the sensor going back. Line-Up: This is the order in which the 4 dogs on your team run. Line Judge: The judge at the start line as a backup for the sensor. The line judge watches passes and makes sure the ball is carried across the line. Pass Caller: The person who tells you how close (or far) your passes are. They stand at the start line. Race: Consists of 3,4,or 5 heats (determined by host club). Re-Run: When a dog or handler commits an error that invalidates the dog's run (i.e. dropping the ball, early pass, false start, missing a jump), the team continues to run and the dog that has erred is tacked on again at the end for a re-run. Seed time: The seed time is determined by how fast the team thinks they will run with any combination
of the dogs on their team. You do not want to put your seed time too fast or you may be placed in a division with
faster teams and you will most likely lose most races. You don't want to put your seed time too slow or you will have
a breakout (see above). The breakout is giving to discourage those that seed too low so they are put in a slower
division, pretty much ensuring they win because they will be faster than the other teams. If a team breaks-out 3 times
in a tournament, they are not eligible to win divisional placements/awards.
Sensor: Part of the EJS, the electronic start line. Start Dog:The very first dog in your line-up. Normally the fastest, strongest, most consistent dog.
Start/Finish Line: 6 feet from the first/last jump. This is the exact place dogs are supposed to pass nose to nose. Start Time: The start dog should be at the start line when the green light glows. The start time is how long AFTER the green light shines that the start dog crossed the sensor. In other words, it shows how many seconds late the start dog was. Team Captain: The Team Captain makes decisions on what dogs should run in what races. They are also in charge of
discussing disagreements with a judge, versus the entire team being involved in the discussion. This plus other duties.
Team Roster: A Team Roster is the C.1 sheet given to the host club that lists up to 6 dogs per team. All dogs listed
must have a CRN.
Team Time: Total time it takes to get all 4 team dogs down to the box and back. Timer: Times each dog's individual run or team time. Good to have at practices. |